NB: as of 23 September 2008, all new artSMart articles are being published on the site news.artsmart.co.za.

WOMEN WRITING IN A GLOBALISED WORLD
(article first published : 2004-05-22)

In the Sixth Annual Cultural Week hosted by the Italian Ministry of Culture, The Centre for Creative Arts, the Programme in Italian Studies and the Programme in Gender Studies (UKZN), in association with the Italian Institute of Culture and the Italian Consulate, Durban, presents a seminar titled Women Writing In A Globalised World.

Guest speaker will be Dacia Maraini with welcome and introduction by Prof Fikile Mazibuko: Executive Dean: Human and Social Sciences, University of KwaZulu Natal.

Prolific Italian writer, poet and essayist, Dacia Maraini is renowned for her innovative and prize-winning works. Among her numerous accolades, her early novel, L’eta del Malessere (The Age of Discontent), won the International Formentor Prize in 1963 and her most recent success was Buio, a collection of short stories which won the most prestigious Italian literary award, the Premio Strega in 1999.

Her novels, La Lunga vita di Marianna Ucria (The Silent Duchess) and Bagheria, a narrative memoir on Sicily, stayed on Italy’s best-seller list for close on two years. She co-founded the Teatro del Poscospino in the 1960’s and established the feminist experimental theatre, La Maddalena in Rome in 1973.

Her plays have been staged around the word, including the US, Holland, Spain, Australia and Germany. Several of her works have been adapted for film and she has also written screenplays for directors such as Pier Paolo, Marco Ferreri, Carlo Di Palma and Margarethe Von Trotta.

Dacia Maraini continues to be active in feminist and political causes. Her articles appear regularly in publications such as Corriere della Serra, La Stampa, L’Unita and Paesa Sera.

The seminar will take place on May 28 from 11h00 to 12h00 at Howard College Theatre. Refreshments will be served. More information from the Centre for Creative Arts on 031 260 3586 or e-mail: cca@ukzn.ac.za